Tammy Nicol – Fashion Revolution

You are one of the people responsible for bringing the Fashion Revolution to South Africa, let us start from the top. Who are you and what are you about?
I guess I sort of started on my own journey, I used to work in the film industry for about nine years. I left to start a more creative process, which involved my own thinking and searching. I travelled a lot, to a lot of natural places. The way stuff was working bothered me. I started moving more towards an environmental way. We used to do something called ‘Style Trade’ which was clothing swaps and pop-up stuff. I was researching and came across Fashion Revolution, we signed up to join last year. Last year was still small, we were just on the radio. This year everybody was more excited about it, it is still in baby steps, but it has grown.

For somebody that has no clue what Fashion Revolution is about can you please give them the 101?
Fashion Revolution is basically a global movement which encourages people to look behind the scenes of fashion. So it is not the runway stuff you see, the front lines of the media. It is the people who make your clothes, where your clothes come from. The environment and the people side of it, the business ethics, dye and chemicals… that sort of thing. So just basically teaching the consumer to be more aware. Also encouraging people to buy local. There is a huge amount of information, it is all a learning journey.

The future of Fashion Revolution in South Africa?
This year it has gained a lot more momentum. We have more people involved, we also have more people interested. There is going to be a lot of growth. We are working with the Cape Town Fashion Council and also the South African Fashion Council. I just think we are going to grow by teaching and educating. We are also working on another campaign called -Love Za, Buy Za. We are collaborating with a lot of people who are all working towards the same goal.

Your message to South African consumers?
My quote from the 24 faces, “It’s not a revolution on style. It’s a revolution on lifestyle”